Efficacy and Safety of Lianhuaqingwen Capsules for the Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Prospective Open-Label Controlled Trial

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. Community and close contact exposures continue to drive the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no confirmed effective treatment for suspected cases and close contacts. Lianhuaqingwen (LH) capsules, a repurposed Chinese herbal product that is currently on the market, have proven effective for influenza and COVID-19. To determine the safety and efficacy of LH capsules for the prevention of COVID-19, we conducted a prospective open-label controlled trial of LH capsules on subjects who had close contact with people infected with COVID-19. Subjects received LH capsules (4 capsules, three times daily) or the usual medical observation for 14 days. The primary endpoint was the rate of positive nucleic acid tests of nasal and pharyngeal swabs during the quarantine medical observation period. We included 1976 patients, including 1101 in the treatment group and 875 in the control group. The rate of positive nucleic acid tests in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.27% vs. 1.14%, respectively; mean difference: −0.87%; 95% CI: −1.83 to −0.13; p = 0.0174 ) during the quarantine medical observation period (14 days). Among subjects with different close contact states, there was no significant difference in the rate of positive nucleic acid test results among close contacts in the treatment group and the control group (6.45% vs. 11.43%, respectively; p = 0.6762 ). Among secondary close contacts, the rate of positive nucleic acid tests in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.09% vs. 0.71%, respectively; p = 0.0485 ). No serious adverse events were reported. Taken together, and in light of the safety and effectiveness profiles, these results show that LH capsules can be considered to prevent the progression of COVID-19 after close contact with an infected person. This trial is registered with ChiCTR2100043012.

Effect of Lianhua Qingwen capsules on the positive rate of COVID-19 close contacts: A retrospective analysis of a large-scale population-based cohort study

“…A previous prospective trial found that the positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the LHQW treatment group was significantly lower than that in a non-LHQW group. However, limitations such as small research dimensions and low incidence of positivity (13 in a total of 1,976 subjects) suggested that further studies on a larger scale are necessary to validate LHQW as an effective and safe option for COVID-19 close contacts ( Gong et al, 2021 ). Therefore, we performed this large-scale study to further validate the effect of LHQW.…”

Efficacy and safety of Lianhua Qingwen capsules combined with standard of care in the treatment of adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 (FLOSAN): protocol for a randomized, double-blind, international multicenter clinical trial

“…Clinical studies showed that in addition to the standard of care (SOC), LHQW improved the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 (including fever, cough, expectoration, and shortness of breath) and significantly shorted the duration of fever ( 8 - 10 ). A real-world study on the administration of LHQW to prevent COVID-19 in quarantined people confirmed that the positivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in nasal and throat swabs of participants was significantly lower in the LHQW group than that in the control group ( 11 ). In summary, LHQW played an active role in the prevention and control of COVID-19 during the outbreak of the epidemic in China.…”

Efficacy and safety of Lianhua Qingwen as an adjuvant treatment for influenza in Chinese patients: A meta-analysis

“…[8] For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of diseases. [9,10] In 2003, Lianhua Qingwen (LHQW) was commonly used to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome. [11] In recent decades, it has been widely used for the treatment of viral influenza, pneumonia caused by coronavirus, the common cold, and other diseases.…”